Record container



June 18, 1957 s. ruPP I 2,796,190

RECORD CONTAINER Filed Nov. 15, 1954 2 heets-Sheet- 1 i 'jfl EQBLSTUPPER '2 "'26 E' I INV TOR f Qe/cwdhv June 18, 1957 E. S. TU PPERFiled Nov. 15, 195 4 RECORD CONTAINER 2 Sheeis-Sheet 2 RECORD CONTAINEREarl S. Tupper, Upton, Mass.

Application November 15', 1954, Serial No. 468 884 1 Claim. (Cl.220.-31)

This invention relates generally to. a box-like container and cover, andmore particularly to an easily operable container for recipe cards orother types of records.

The main object of the invention resides in the provision of a containeror holder for record cards such as recipes or others and which is formedentirely of two separable parts; a body portion and a cover adapted tobe pivotally connected thereto owing to structural parts formingintegral portions of the body and cover members.

Another object of the inventionresides in the provision of a containerfor record cards which is formed entirely of two separable parts a bodyportion and a pivotally mounted cover therefor, and wherein both thecontainer and cover portions may be formed entirely of relatively rigidplastic material, the body portion and cover being integrally formedduring production with cooperating parts for hingeable connection.

A further feature of the invention resides in the provision of acontainer for recipe cards or other record cards wherein a plurality ofsuch containers may be conveniently stacked upon one another forcompactness in storage and shipping and wherein they undersurface of onecontainer cooperates with the upper surface of the container directlybelow to maintain the containers in stacked arrangement.

Another feature of the invention resides in a positive type ofengagement between the cover and container members when the structure isin closed condition.

Another end of the invention resides. in the; provision of a containerand cover which is sturdy and durable in construction, reliable andefiicient in operation, and inexpensive to manufacture and assemble.

These objects and other incidental ends and advantages of the. inventionwill hereinafter; appear in the progress of the disclosure and aspointed out in the appended claim.

Accompanying this specification are drawings showing a preferred form ofthe invention wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of theinvention with the cover portion in closed position;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, but showing the cover in an openposition and containing a plurality of recipe cards or the like disposedwithin the body portion of the container;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary and enlarged transverse sectional view takenalong the plane 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along the plane44 of Figure 1 showing in phantom the open position of the cover;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view partly in section ofthe cooperating portions of the container cover members;

Figure 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along the plane6-6 of Figure 5 showing the cooperating parts in engagement with eachother;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary bottom perspective view of hired States Patent0 Patented June 18, 1957 the container shown partly broken away andillustratingthe peripheral ridge. formed in the bottom wall for thepurpose of facilitating stacking;

Figure 8 is a front viewshown partly in elevation and partly in sectionof a pair of containers and covers stacked one on top of the other; and

Figure 9-is an enlarged; vertical sectional view of a portion of Figure8 showing cooperating structure for stacking.

In accordance with the invention and the preferred form shown and moreparticularly to Figure 1, a con-- tainer and cover combination isgenerally indicated by numeral 10 for record or recipe cards including aboxlike container portion 11' and a cover 12.

Both the container body portion 11 and the: cover- 12 are formed ofhard, substantially inflexible plastic such as polystyrene or othersuitable plastic material having similar physical characteristics and isintegrally formed. with cooperating parts by means of which cover 12 maybe pivotally connected to container body portion 11 with out theaddition of any other fastening means as will hereinafter appear.

Container body portion 11 includes a rectangular bottom wall 13integrally formed with front wall 14, end walls 15 and a rear wall 16with the upper edges of the front, rear and end walls all lying inth-esame plane.

Each of end walls 15 adjacent the upper longitudinal edge of the rearwall 16' is formed with a rounded corner 17 which forms in cooperationwith the ends of the rear wall 16 an arcuate groove for a purposehereinafter to be described.

Each of the end walls 15 near and below each of the rounded corners 17is also integrally formed with an outwardly extending pin 18, the pins18 at opposite ends being longitudinally aligned with each other.

Bottom wall 13 is integrally formed with a downwardly extendingperipheral ridge 1-9, the inner faces of which are flared downwardly andoutwardly from the bottom wall 13 for a purpose hereinafter to bedescribed. 1

Cover 10 includes a rectangular top wall 20 of the same material as thebody portion 11 and is integrallyformed around its periphery with adepending front wall 21, rear wall 22 and end walls 23, the juncture ofthese front, rear and end walls with the top wall being effected along aroundedperipheral portion 24. The lower edges of the front wall 21, rearwall 22 and end walls 23 all lie in the same plane and are adapted torest on the open upper edge of the body: portion 1 1 (Figure 4:)- whenthe cover 10 is in closed position. As shown in Figure 6, theintersecting lower edges of the end walls 23 and rear wall 22 are formedwith triangular cut-outs 25 directly above the rounded corners 17and'are thereby relieved to permit a full free closing rotationalmovement of the cover upon the container body.

As shown in Figure 4, the outer faces of the front wall 21 and end walls23 are integrally formed along their lower edges with the flanges 26 and27 respectively, the inner faces of these flanges being alignedvertically with the outer faces of the front and end walls to permit thereception upwardly therewithin of the upper open edges of container sideand front walls 15 and 14 thereby to prevent lateral displacement of thecover 12 relative to the body portion 11.

The lower edges of the flanges 27 at their ends remote from flange 26are integrally formed with depending lugs or ears 28 having openings 29and through which pass the aforementioned pins 18 when cars 28 arespread for this purpose whereby to pivotally mount the cover portion 12upon the body portion 11 without the addition of any other separablefastening means.

As shown in Figure 6, the downward movement of the cover 12 isfacilitated by the rounded corners 17 on end walls of the container toprevent engagement with the triangular cover cut-outs and the upperedges of the container front and end walls 14 and 15 entering thegrooves provided by cover flanges 26 and 27, said cover continuingdownwardly until entering into abutment with the upper edges of the bodyportion 11.

As shown in Figure 4, the cover 12 when in the open position will belimited in its outward displacement by the abutment of the lower edge ofthe rear wall 22 with the rear wall 16 of the body portion.

Thus, a smooth movement of the cover 12 from the closed position to theopen position is provided without the incorporation in the device ofcomplicated and additional mounting means, effecting an obvious economyof material and labor. The container and cover may be manufactured inmass production from only two separable parts formed entirely ofplastic, resulting in a relatively low price to the ultimate consumer.

A plurality of cards are stacked within the body portion 11 (Figure 2)with the tab portions 31 thereof extending upwardly within the dependingside walls of the cover and completely concealed when the latter is inthe closed position. The cards 36 with their tabs 31 will be suitablefor the indexing of recipes or other information, for examplealphabetical card files, or the like.

As shown in Figures 8 and 9, the devices may be conveniently stacked oneupon the other for compactness in shipping and storage with the beveledupper edge of one cover 12 being received snugly within thecorrespondingly shaped ridge on the undersurface of another containerbody portion 11 to maintain the devices in stacked arrangement andpreventing their displacement laterally relative to each other. Tofacilitate the reception of the cover 12 within the ridges 19, the sidewalls 21, 22 and end walls 23 may be tapered downwardly and outwardlyaway from the central portion of top wall 20. Also, the front wall 14,rear wall 16 and end walls 15 of the container portion may be taperedslightly upwardly .and outwardly from the bottom wall 13.

The combined container and cover may be formed of thick gaugepolyethylene, vinyl or other plastic which is relatively rigid.Moreover, various shapes and sizes are contemplated.

' It is understood furthermore that minor changes and variations inmaterial, integration, methods of molding and assembly, and combinationof parts may all be resorted to without departing from the spirit of theinvention and the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A record container comprising a container body element having a bottomwall, a front wall, a rear wall and end walls from the bottom wall, theupper edges of said front, rear and end walls of said container bodyelement lying substantially in the same plane, a cover element having atop wall, and a front wall, rear wall and end walls extending downwardlyfrom the top wall, the lower edges of said cover front, rear and endwalls lying in substantially the same plane and being adapted to rest onthe upper edges of said container body front, rear and end walls,depending flanges running along the lower edges of said cover front andend walls on the outer faces thereof, the inner faces of said flangesbeing displaced outwardly relative to the inner faces of said coverfront and end walls and receiving thereagainst the outer faces of saidcontainer body front and end walls, ear projections depending from thelower edges of said cover end wall flanges at their ends remote fromsaid front wall flange, pivot pin connection means extendinghorizontally between the depending ear projections and the containerbody end walls on which the cover element may be rotated, each of saidcontainer body end walls having a rounded upper corner forming with theends of said container body rear wall an arcurate recess adapted toreceive therein the lower edge of each of said cover end walls duringrotational movement of the cover element, each of the lower edges ofsaid cover end and rear walls being relieved to cooperate with saidrounded corners to permit the free rotation of said cover over thecontainer body end and rear walls, said cover front and end wall flangesbeing integrally formed with said cover front and end walls, said earprojections being formed integrally with said cover end wall flanges,said pivot connection means between the depending ear projections on thecover element and the container body element end walls being formedintegrally upon one of the elements.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,577,823 Dolle Mar. 23, 1926 2,145,143 Trecartin Jan. 24, 19392,356,926 Gits Aug. 29, 1944 2,417,632 Clark etal. Mar. 18, 19472,457,043 Histand Dec. 21, 1948 2,460,488 Brunetti Feb. 1, 19492,488,611 Stallings Nov. 22, 1949 2,605,926 Casey Aug. 5, 1952 2,670,872Olesky Mar. 2, 1954 2,717,717 Busch Sept. 13, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 9,489Australia Aug. 7, 1933

